RT Journal Article
T1 Reasons for choosing and completing nursing studies among incoming and outgoing students: A qualitative study
A1 Teresa Morales, Cristina
A1 Rodríguez Pérez, Margarita
A1 Ramos Pichardo, Juan Diego
AB BackgroundThe shortage of nurses is causing instability and crisis in health systems and will continue. The WHO reinforced the importance of recruiting and retaining new students. Authors of various studies recommend the need to identify and understand the reasons for pursuing a nursing degree.ObjectivesTo determine students' preference for nursing studies and to identify the reasons for choosing, continuing, and completing a bachelor's degree in nursing.DesignQualitative, descriptive study.Participants106 nursing students at the University of Huelva (Spain) participated during their first year (2017) and final year (2021) of the nursing degree.MethodsThis study was conducted with the same group of students in two phases. Data were collected in writing in a document with open-ended questions and no maximum wordcount. The responses were analysed using content analysis.ResultsA total of 76.4 % of participants stated that nursing had been their first choice. The main reasons for choosing a nursing degree were associated with fulfilment, and a desire to help others and interact with them. The reasons for completing their studies were primarily related to an interest in providing professional care, showing a deeper and more concrete knowledge of nursing care work.ConclusionFor most participants, nursing was their first choice due to a strong intrinsic motivation related to self-satisfaction in helping others. The reasons for completing this degree had extrinsic motivations linked to nursing activity in hospital. Areas such as management, teaching, or research were not interesting to our students. Knowing the causes of this lack of interest could help us attract them to these areas.
PB Elsevier
SN 0260-6917
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21855
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21855
LA eng
NO Teresa-Morales, Cristina, Margarita Rodríguez-Pérez, and Juan Diego Ramos-Pichardo. "Reasons for Choosing and Completing Nursing Studies among Incoming and Outgoing Students: A Qualitative Study." Nurse Education Today 125 (2023/06/01/ 2023): 105794. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2023.105794
NO Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUA
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 14 jul 2026